Fordham Squash entered the College Squash Association Team Championship in Philadelphia this past weekend coming off of three consecutive wins. In what had been an up and down regular season campaign for the Rams, they hoped to carry some momentum from their positive finish into postseason play.

Unfortunately, the championship did not go the way the Rams intended. On day one, Fordham was swept in both of its matches against Wesleyan University and Hamilton College. Against Wesleyan, just two of Fordham’s matches went past three games. Senior Patrick Rodden fell to Wesleyan’s Shanay Sanghavi at first position 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5. At second position, sophomore Henry Frawley couldn’t get past Abhinav Gupta, losing 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5. 

The Rams fared no better against Hamilton late on Friday. Fordham lost all nine matches in three games, unable to win a single set against the Continentals. Despite the disappointing results on the first day of competition, it should be noted that both Wesleyan and Hamilton have exceptional programs that most schools would have difficulty lining up against. Wesleyan is ranked 29th in the CSA College Squash Rankings, while Hamilton sits one spot higher at 28th.

After a disappointing first day of competition, Fordham had a chance to right the ship on the second and final day of the championship with matchups against Vassar College and Denison University. Although they fared better than on Friday, the Rams fell to both Vassar and Denison, dropping them to 0-4 in the championship. In the first match of the day against Vassar, Fordham jumped out to an early 4-1 lead thanks to wins from senior Dylan Panichello, freshman Sofia Arseniev, Frawley and senior Winthrop Reed. Although just one point was needed to secure the victory for the Rams, Vassar rallied with their backs against the wall to win four straight contests and clinch the 5-4 victory. 

Fordham looked to quickly wash away the taste of defeat in their second match of the day and final match of the championship against Denison. The Rams again put up a good fight but were unable to bring home the win, losing by a final score of 6-3. In addition to getting a point by default, Fordham got a pair of wins from Arseniev and Panichello in the sixth and eighth slots, respectively.

Going 0-4 at the CSA Team Championship represented a disappointing end to team competition for a Fordham squad that showed lots of potential during the regular season. Their strong play down the stretch hinted at a potentially positive showing this past weekend, but that did not come to fruition. They finish the season with a 9-15 record.